Saturday, July 21, 2012

We told ourselves we would not be real pushy when it came to potty training.

We started when you were about 2 1/2 years old, and just took it slow. You made some real progress right before Grandad got sick, but because of the crazy travelling schedule that followed, we fell way behind and actually regressed some.
BUT, I am proud to say that since we've been back on a more regular schedule, and able to concentrate on using the potty and whatnot at home, you've made tremendous breakthroughs.

You haven't wet your "night time" diaper in almost a week, and you have been using both the froggy potty AND the big potty for #2 successfully, and NOT going in your underwear/diaper.

AND to top it all off, while we were in the car the other day, on the way to lunch, you said something super surprising.. you said, "I need to potty".

Your daddy and I almost fell out of our seats.

PLUS you held it all the way till we got to the bathroom at the restaurant!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Your Uncle Carter in Richmond got you this Play Doh set for your birthday, and we had kind of hidden it away so that we could have something "sparkly and new" to play with, when the time called for it.

Well, you thwarted that plan after finding it and presenting it to me yesterday, for us to play with. :)

So far, you're liking it. I mean, who doesn't like Play Doh? The toy is a little funky looking, and you get to "press out" a very realistic looking tongue for the dude, as well as make teeth and braces.

I put in the batteries today, to the drill, and you have been happily giving this poor guy the root canal of his nightmares!

Maybe this will be of some help to acquaint you with the idea of dentists and what they do, so that when the time comes for you to visit one, it won't be quite so horrific bad.

I decided that instead of it sitting around wasting its existence collecting dust, that I would open up the package and attempt to make some balloon animals for you.

The package came with instructions, which was a good thing, because I knew NOTHING about how to make any balloon animal of any sort.

In the end, we managed to make a couple of dogs, a giraffe ( or at least it was something with a long neck ), a couple of flowers, a sword, a hat and a few other yet-to-be-discovered species of something or another.

Not too bad for a complete novice.. and as for the balloons, there were only a couple of imploding casualties!

You have always been well known for squirreling away my mousepad and mouse/mice.

You also have tried to use the mouse on several occasions, but its functionality had eluded you for some reason. You know how to use the touchpad, though, for some obscure and unfathomable reason.

Last weekend we started playing a couple of PC games on the laptop, with a mouse. It took you no time at all to get the hang of it, although some of the finer/more sensitive mousing and wrist movements still need some work, but knowing you, it shouldn't take you long to master it.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

There are days when I get the prepared worksheets out for us to do together, and you always look forward to "doing your book". At this point, since you know your letters ( and their sounds ) and numbers and shapes, so it's a lot of repetition and reinforcement, and introducing some new concepts of comparison etc.

To say that we're working on your penmanship would be pretty ridiculous, but we're hoping to exercise those little fine motor muscles and do some pre-writing. You are slowly gaining more control when coloring with your crayons or markers.

Of course it's not all stuffy school stuff. Recently we made some felt animals for the Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle books - Brown Bear and Polar Bear, as well as a few other stories You have been spending lots of time getting me to read the books over and over and over so that you could put the animals up on the "felt board" over and over and over again.....

Something else you always come back to is Play Doh. Although, as with any other activity, you want ME to be there, helping you do this, that and the other :) I got you a set of numbers and letters cookie cutters at Dittos for Kiddos a while back, and you love getting me to roll out the play doh so that you can cut out the letters. You also love to stamp various objects onto Play Doh to see what imprint you get on it :)

We got you a coloring book the other day from Dollar Tree, which is now one of your most precious possessions. You insist on coloring it first thing in the morning and several times a day. Isn't it obvious yet what the theme of the coloring book is? :)

We got out our colored popsicle sticks and you immediately had your Angry Bird pencil toppers fight one another. You even acted out a little play between the two birds, complete with different voices and dialogue!

Of course, the coloring doesn't stop there either :) The coloring apps on the android are among your favorites.

Even though you love the high tech tablets and whatnot, it is heartening to see how you go back to the "old school" toys again and again with a little boy's sense of wonderment, adventure and curiosity. :)

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Yes, I said "was". We LOVE LOVE your long wavy curls, but with the temperatures going into the 100s, ( and it was only still JUNE ), I just HAD to give you a trim. We miss the floppiness, but are consoled that it will be back with time :)